


That Was Unexpected

by SAOShea



Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: Gen, hints at supernatural Perry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-24
Updated: 2014-12-24
Packaged: 2018-03-03 03:29:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2836373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SAOShea/pseuds/SAOShea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Danny attempts to teach LaF, Kirsch and Perry how to sword fight.</p>
            </blockquote>





	That Was Unexpected

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ataleoffiction](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ataleoffiction/gifts).



Laura knocked at the Summer House door. A bubbly looking girl answered. She looked at both Laura and Carmilla briefly, before enquiring into what they needed.

“We’re looking for Danny? Is she here?” Laura asked.

“No, she’s just gone out to the store. She’ll be back soon, though. You’re welcome to wait inside,” the Summer Sister beamed at them. Laura was about to take her up on the offer when Carmilla interrupted.

“No, thank you. We will wait out here.”

“Okie dokie. Well, the invitation is still out there,” the girl replied hurriedly and closed the door behind her.

“What was that for?” Laura frowned at her girlfriend.

“We go in there and they’ll all ask why we’re looking for Xena. I do not need a group of monster hunters knowing that I am incapable of the level of weaponry they must surely have obtained from their obscenely ridiculous demonstrations of prowess,” Carmilla’s tone was irritated. Laura didn’t bother arguing.

The rumble of an engine could be heard coming from down the path, cutting through the silence. The sound was followed by a motorbike shooting down the path and into the open space outside of the Summer House. The rider swerved to a stop close by the pair and cut the engine. She was clad in a leather jacket and leggings to match. She pulled off her helmet and, as if it were a movie scene, her red hair cascaded out of it like a waterfall, springing as it hit her shoulders. She grinned at them both and ran a glove-clad hand through her hair.

“Hey guys, whats up?” Danny asked of her two visitors. They stood staring without answering for a noticeable length of time, slightly slack-jawed (they may as well have been drooling). Surprisingly, Laura recovered first.

“We were here to ask you a favour. Is that okay?”

“Shoot,” Danny was still grinning at them both. Carmilla, who had finally gained her wits, was scowling.

“So, we were talking about how Silas is full of monsters and creepy, supernatural stuff and so I’m going to continue with my vlogging because it’s fun and useful for getting information and sorting out the creepy stuff-”

“Laura,” Danny interrupted, “You’re rambling.”

“Oh, right. Sorry,” Laura smiled sheepishly, “Basically, you’re a good teacher and you’re great with weapons and we thought it’d be a good idea for LaF and Perry and Kirsch to learn how to use a sword. Would you mind teaching them?”

“Of course not,” Danny beamed, “I’d be glad to help.”

“Thanks,” Laura smiled back.

“I’m gonna take these groceries in, do you want to come in and have a drink?” the Summer Sister asked of them both.

“No, but thanks for the offer. I’ve got a ton of work to do,” Laura replied glumly.

“Oh, well, good luck with that,” Danny chuckled. She dismounted the bike and took the bags of shopping inside.

“See you later,” she called, waving.

“Who knew Red had a motorcycle?” Carmilla said, after the tall girl had departed.

“Yeah, that was unexpected,” Laura replied.

 

***

 

The weekend found Danny in the Summer Society training room with her three new and unlikely students. Kirsch looked like a small child on his birthday; LaF, ever the scientist, was flicking through a book on the basics of sword metallurgy; and Perry... well, Perry just refused to even touch the sword.

“Lola, you’re going to have to pick up the blade at some point,” Danny pleaded. The floor don was resolute and shook her head. It took all Danny’s self control not to throw her hands up. She realised Perry had only just been persuaded to come along, by LaF, but she thought she’d have more success with the curly-haired girl.

“Alright, whenever you’re ready Perry. Kirsch, you wanna go?” Danny turned to face the boy, who nodded eagerly.

“This is so cool, bro,” he said as he grabbed the sword Danny had selected for him: a heavy, Middle-age style _baselard_. She’d taken time to make sure the swords would suit them, therefore she’d chosen a lighter, Roman-design _gladius_ for LaF and an even lighter but slightly longer, machete-like _falchion_ for Perry. She had her standard Summer Society _xiphos_ , rather than her custom-made longsword. She thought it prudent to teach them how to use shortswords first and for safety, she had chosen swords with a melted layer of wax on the sharp edges.

“So, Kirsch, first off, your stance should be like you’re boxing. And you should have you back arm loose, for balance and your sword arm held out front. Like this,” she stood in the position she’d described and watched him imitate her, “Excellent.”

“Cool, bro,” Kirsch repeated, nodding his excitement and smiling.

“There are five main points of attack: front leg, sword arm, torso, chest and neck,” she said, while demonstrating the thrusts or arcs to attack those areas most easily, "Mimic my actions."

She slowly lead Kirsch through the actions a few more times, until he seemed to have a grasp of them. He was a fast learner.

"Well done. Okay, take a break, while I teach LaF," Danny smiled at Kirsch, who promptly fist pumps as he jumps down from the platform.

"LaFonbro, you're up!" he said, landing a heavy hand on their shoulder, startling them from their book. Perry was sitting off to one side - sword still untouched - rubbing her temples, her eyes firmly shut.

LaF stood, swapping book for blade, and made their way to the platform where Danny was waiting.

"So, I assume your weapon suppliers use high grade metals for these?" they asked, gesturing to the swords.

“Of course," Danny answered as she tried not to laugh.

“And the alloys are less than two percent iron and carbonised?"

"I'm... er, I'm not sure," Danny replied, brow furrowing.

"It makes the blades less brittle," explained LaFontaine.

"I'll look into it... shall we begin?" said Danny. LaF nodded.

Danny ran through the same procedure she had with Kirsch, though it took a couple more extra run-throughs to make sure LaF didn't injure themself in the process. Once, this was accomplished she beckoned Kirsch back up to the platform.

"I want you two to practice with each other and see if you can work out the most effective blocks for the attacks I showed you. Please don't hit or injure each other, or yourselves," at the last part she offered a pointed stare at LaF, "Off you go."

She jumped from the platform and observed them both for a moment, before building up the resolve to talk to Perry again. She approached the floor don and leant her sword on the bench next to Perry’s. She lightly placed her hand on the other girl’s shoulder. Perry started, her eyes flashing open.

“Perry, can I ask why you don’t want to learn?” Danny said softly.

“Why is it a necessity? Learning to sword fight is for people who need to; I don’t need to. It’s not normal to need to learn how to use a sword. No,” Perry vollied back, her voice high and quavering. Danny sighed and knelt beside the agitated girl, to look her in the eyes.

“I understand where you’re coming from, Lola. I do this everyday, so it seems normal to me to have to teach sword skills and of course it would seem bizarre that we’re trying to get you to learn. But I promise, it’s because we all care about you. We all want to make sure you can protect yourself, if you ever needed to, or even to help protect us if we ended up in a situation that only you could get us out of,” she explained to Perry, her voice was low and soothing and Perry’s tension slowly dropped from her shoulders. She looked at Danny, wide-eyed. Danny held her gaze earnestly.

“How about I give you a SumSoc polo to wear while we train? Would that make it feel more normal?” Danny asked, smiling. Perry nodded slowly. Danny stood and ran over to the store cupboard, grabbing a new polo and bringing it over to Perry.

“Try this on for size,” she was about to throw the shirt but thought better of it and handed it to the curly-haired girl, “The changing rooms are over there.”

When Perry returned she was wearing the perfectly-sized polo with a little grin threatening to break across her face.

“How’s that?” Danny asked, with a small smile of her own.

“I don’t know why, but when I first came to Silas I wanted to try out for the Summer Society. I never did, it just didn’t seem very ‘me’,” an abashed Perry confessed quietly to Danny.

“I think you’d be brilliant,” Danny replied kindly and the shorter girl smiled, “C’mon, let’s give it a shot.”

Danny picked up both swords and handed the _falchion_ to Perry, who held it tentatively.

“Copy what I do,” Danny said and stood in the offensive stance, guiding Perry with verbal prompts and affirmation, “Good. So, I’m going to show you a couple of simple attacks and how to block them. Is that okay?”

Perry nodded.

“If I were to disarm you, I’d-” Danny’s was interrupted by Perry bringing her sword up to intercept Danny’s blade, shocking the taller girl, “I’m not actually going to hit you, don’t worry.”

But it was as if Perry hadn’t heard her. Because she was motioning to attack and Danny, startled - but still vaguely in control of the situation - knocked the blade away with her own.

“Perry?” she called. The worry in her voice alerted LaF and Kirsch to the situation and both stopped their practise to observe what was happening.

The swipes from Perry’s sword were coming faster and with surprising agility. It took a lot of effort on Danny’s part to parry the blows and try to prevent more attacks without injuring the other girl. From her quick glances at Perry, when she wasn’t deflecting the oncoming blade, she noticed an unearthly, neon-violet gleam in the other girl's eyes.

“Perry!” she shouted, “Lola! Stop!”

“Perr, what are you doing? Seriously, Perr, stop!” LaF called and, like a switch had been hit, the gleam in Perry’s eyes vanished and her blade stopped mid-arc. Danny wasn’t quite fast enough and her blade met Perry’s in an upward thrust. The reverberation caused Perry’s sword to fly from her hands and clatter to the floor. The clang of the metal on the linoleum echoed through the deathly silent gym. Perry looked dazed, like she'd just woken from an unnatural slumber.

“Wow, Perry…” Danny was at a loss for words.

Kirsch finished her sentence for her: “That was unexpected.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> Prompts from ataleoffiction (actually Danny in leather on a motorbike was a Sharon idea brought to my attention by ataleoffiction!).
> 
> Merry Christmas, friend, I hope you enjoy your present! :)


End file.
